Rochester News

Wiesner fires back against Attorney General

Former Monroe County Water Authority security chief Robert Wiesner says he and the others indicted on bid-rigging charges this week were walked past cameras in handcuffs to score political points.

Wiesner stood by his attorney, James Nobles, in a news conference on Thursday. Both men blasted Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for tipping off media beforehand and staging a "perp walk" from the AG's Rochester office with Wiesner and the other three men in handcuffs.

Wiesner says he wasn't even involved with the contracts for Monroe County's new public safety communications system he's accused of trying to rig.

Wiesner and Nobles claim the indictment of the former police captain was an attempt to score a political hit against Wiesner's wife, Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks.

Nobles claims the tip to media before opening of the sealed indictment against his client broke the law.

Attorney General Schneiderman responded with a comment saying the perp walk and the tipoff to camera crews beforehand were inappropriate, though not illegal as Wiesener's lawyer believes. And he says it's not surprising that people accused of fraud and corruption would "attempt to distract from their alleged crimes."

Schneiderman says the email alert to reporters came from a communications office aide who acted without authorization and has been suspended for a month. He says it won't happen again.